I have been feeding my dog nutro natural choice for about 4 years with no problems. She is in excellent health but with the recall I am no longer comfortable feeding her nutro anymore.

I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a REALLY PICKY eater. She is 10 years old, 75lb, and was getting glucosamine and chondrotin daily in her food to prevent arthritis from a back surgery she had when she was a puppy. I know there are a lot of pet foods out there that are good but she is so picky I don't want to have her go through several food changes before we find a winner.

I'd start with samples of regular evo, canidae (any), Solid Gold Barking at the Moon (might be tastier), Wolf King (grainy, but it was tasty...)... Basically, get whatever samples you can get and then choose the best food (we can help you with that) when you know which ones she likes best.

Thanks for everyones advice! I think I have found a good food for Shade. I brought her a bunch of samples (candidae, innova, evo, and a couple others)and this is the one she liked the best:

Lotus Senior Chicken Recipe: These are the first few ingredients, the list is really long but everything is human grade food, vitamins, and it also has glucosamine and chondroitin for her back! I think this is a winner but I would love everyone's opinion since you guys know alot more than I do...

Prin, It is a dry food, that's what she has always eaten. She is such a picky eater I was really pleased with how much she liked this food. The other foods she tried were wenaewe adult and DVP natural balance.

Is there a problem with grains in dog food? Does it make a difference that the next ingredient is an oil blend of olive, salmon, and evening primrose?

She also gets more supplements of the glucosamine and chondrotin I was happy that she would get more in her food too Let me know what you think, thanks again for the input!

Grains aren't terrible if your dog doesn't have any allergies, but they should never be the first ingredient. There should be at least one meat in meal form before any grain. In this case, the meat is not in meal form, which means it still contains 70-80% water. The ingredients go into the food by weight, and 70-80% of the weight of the meat is water that evaporates during cooking.

This food is 4 grains and very little meat. DVP Natural balance is also low on meat, but it has more than this one does...

I agree. For a chicken based formula "chicken meal" should be the first ingredient and then preferably another meat source. Glucosamine/chondroitin added to any kibble is insignificant so you should be adding your own supplements if needed.

The glucosamine/chondroitin in the food is green lipped mussel also has MSM. There regular chicken recipe has chicken meal as the second ingredient, but the senior formula does not. She has put on a lot of weight in the last two years (15 lbs) and I have managed to get about 7 pounds off with exercise and a little food reduction this year. I am nervous to take her off of a senior food becuase she is not as active as she used to be and I don't want her to get too heavy.

"his food is 4 grains and very little meat. DVP Natural balance is also low on meat, but it has more than this one does..."

She hated the DVP, spit it back out. The only other one she liked was the wenaewe (organic uruguayan beef, organic brown rice, organic canola seed, organic flax seed meal, organic buckwheat seed, organic barely, organic millet, organic carrots.....) This one seems more grainy

She doesn't have any food allergies (that I know of). Is this a bad choice? Help!!!

Senior foods tend to be full of carbs and starches and can actually cause the dog to gain weight. (I have a problem with senior foods).

IMO, older dogs should be eating higher protein foods without too much starch and without too much fat. Evo reduced fat is a good example of what I think senior dogs should be eating (as long as they are currently healthy)... http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1492

They are just repairing tissue more than anything and need the extra protein to help do that. They definitely don't need more carbs or starches, as their energy is already lower, right?

The evo reduced fat was one of the samples I tried with her, no luck. Do you think I should go with the regular adult food with the one she likes (lotus)? She did eat the canidae, but liked the lotus ALOT better.

Menadione sodium bisulfate complex is a synthetic vitamin K that was banned for human consumption and was recently removed from most of the top dog foods out there... It causes free radicals which can lead to tumors and cancer...

Chicken meal is a better first ingredient, but there are just so many grains after it anyway.

Is this food cheaper than the Canidae? If it was, that would make sense, but if it isn't, it's definitely not worth the same or more than Canidae...

Ok, That's why I ask I will get a small bag of the canidae to make sure she will eat it. The lotus was about the same price $46 for 30lbs. I thought with all the antioxidants in the food it would be a good choice. You have really done your homework on this stuff!! Thanks sooo much! I will let you know how everything goes.

Just in case, if she doesn't like the canidae, would it be terrible if I were to give her the lotus?

It's not that terrible. It's just missing some meat protein. Maybe if you added some meat to it yourself, it would be better. (And if you complain to the company enough, maybe they'll remove the menadione)

If there are other foods you can try that you want us to look at, feel free. Some of the fishier ones are also pretty tasty for some dogs.